


Trouble

by Eryn



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Dog - Freeform, Gen, Pets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-07
Updated: 2012-09-07
Packaged: 2017-11-13 18:23:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/506380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eryn/pseuds/Eryn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequel to <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/499486">The Scent of Surrender</a></p>
<p>Now that Trouble is living at Baker Street everyone else has their own opinion of the dog.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Trouble

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kryptaria](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kryptaria/gifts).
  * Inspired by [The Scent of Surrender](https://archiveofourown.org/works/499486) by [Kryptaria](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kryptaria/pseuds/Kryptaria). 



> Thanks a lot to [Kryptaria](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Kryptaria/pseuds/Kryptaria), who wrote the original story and was kind enough to beta read it :)

Watching John and Sherlock raise a dog, Greg thought, was a bit like watching parents raise a child.  
It was, of course, obvious that John was going to be the stern parent and Sherlock was the fun parent. Greg couldn’t imagine anything else. So it wasn't surprising that it was John who taught the dog rules. It was also him who fed him and took him for walks, but that was something Greg had only learnt later.  
  
The first thing he learnt, past Sherlock and John getting a dog, was that the animal was named 'Trouble'. He should have realised how fateful the name was, but it took a while for the knowledge to fully set in.  
  
#  
  
In the beginning Trouble was just cute. He looked like he had as much fur as he had skin and bones and everyone loved him. Even Sally couldn't resist walking up to Sherlock the first time he took Trouble to a crime scene. Of course it didn't win him any points that Trouble made to chew the buttons off her uniform when she got to hold him.  
But she couldn't stay mad at the dog. No one could. He was a ball of energy that climbed all over John or Sherlock at crime scenes. Greg was firm about keeping the dog off the ground, so it wasn't unusual to find a white head poking out from coat front or jumper neck, teeth worrying on buttons or ears or whatever else was in reach.  
  
Greg could see exasperated love in the way John pushed the muzzle away from his ear and how Sherlock stopped replacing the top button of his coat. It reminded him a bit of the time when Greg’s children had been small and he'd just stopped combing his hair and his wife had stopped with the make-up because carrying a toddler around destroyed every effort you put into your appearance in about 5 seconds.  
Greg also saw the fruits of their training efforts. He wasn't quite pleased with Sherlock's fun parenting. Having every exclamation of 'stupid person' and 'obvious' met with excited barking from the coat front wasn't the way to make the team excited about working with Sherlock. But John's stern parent routine met his hearty approval. It was a pleasure to see the furball walk at John's side, short leash slack in his grip, sitting on command, laying down when told to, staying and coming and fetching before he was picked up and hidden underneath the jumper.  
  
Of course the dog also grew and with Trouble grew his repertoire of tricks.  
  
As soon as he was tall enough to reach the handle, the dog knew how to open a door, courtesy of Sherlock. He could also smell nicotine, courtesy of John. And he could distinguish friend and foe. Greg hadn't been surprised that Mycroft was in both categories, depending on which human was in attendance and possession of treats.  
Trouble also knew how to lie down and play dead and jump. But John was also training him to bark and bite on appropriate commands, though 'stupid person' still worked best on the barking job. But John was firm about having a word that wasn't 'Anderson' as the command to bite.  
  
#  
  
When the dog reached mid thigh and knew to stay glued to John's heel once they passed the yellow black tape, Greg allowed him to stay on the ground. It had started to get ridiculous, them trying to carry Trouble around. And they had his samples so if any hairs got into forensics they knew who had contaminated the crime scene. Of course no one dared complain. The hairs just quietly went into a box full of 'Sherlock evidence': hairs and fibres and the odd finger print that had accumulated over the years Sherlock had been working with them.  
  
Greg just stood back and watched them argue about whether or not the dog was old enough to learn this or that trick, and if he should accompany John on morning runs - something that he had only started once Trouble moved in. They bickered about it and berated each other on how not to train their Trouble and Greg just shook his head. He only interfered when Trouble started to stick to Sherlock's side at crime scenes. At least when he was next to John and Sherlock said 'stupid person' John could say 'stay' and the dog would just bark. When he was at Sherlock's side and Sherlock said 'stupid person' Trouble was off tracking down Anderson and John had to call for him to 'stand down', 'come', and 'stay' before anything like working was possible again. So Trouble was at John's side at crime scenes and Anderson took even greater pains to never be in the same room with 'the freak and his white demon'. As far as Greg was concerned, that would be the status quo from now on.  
  
#  
  
The most amazing thing about Trouble, Mycroft thought, was his sense for danger. Even when it was still short enough to walk beneath the coffee table the animal had already known that the kitchen was only safe when John was in it. It had known that just because it was in Sherlock's hand didn't mean it was edible. And just because it was liquid didn't mean you could drink it. It knew how to withstand violent violins (curled up beneath John's bed, whimpering) and how to react to raving rows (curl up in Sherlock's lap or John's lap, whoever needed calm most).  
  
There was also never any danger of Trouble stealing food from the table. Mycroft had learnt from Mrs. Hudson that in the beginning there had apparently been an accident with a white substance that might or might not have been cocaine. It had left the dog howling for three days, curled up inside the cold fireplace, not even coming outside for its favourite treats. Needless to say the row had been epic and Mycroft had briefly entertained the idea of separation, divorce fightings over Trouble, and the need for a new flatmate for his brother. But they'd reconciled and taught Trouble not to eat anything that wasn't placed in his dish and things had gone back to normal.  
  
He was not surprised by the dog's repertoire of tricks. Both its masters seemed interested in teaching it everything important and then some.  
Mycroft was especially grateful of the vast training when some stupid sod tried to mug John on his, or rather their, morning run. Trouble had come as ordered, barked, bit and held the offender until the police had arrived.  
Mycroft hadn't been able to figure out just who had taught the dog what, but the proud parent look on both faces had made it pretty clear they'd both had their hands in it.  
  
#  
  
When Violet Holmes met Trouble the dog was already a year and a half, full-grown and knew all the tricks a person could think of. She smiled indulgently as Sherlock made him go through his paces. It was a pleasure to see her son's eyes aflame with pride and excitement about something that wasn't crime. It reminded her of how he'd been as a child, still excited and ready to face the world, intend to make it a better place.  
Needless to say Trouble was the first dog permitted into the house in the whole history of the Holmes family. He was also not chased away when he decided Violet's lap was the perfect place to rest his big head. Instead he was petted and indulged. Maybe her son wouldn't make her a grandmother in the traditional sense, but he sure treated Trouble like a child, so she would make sure he got properly indulged for it.


End file.
